


Blink

by JoAsakura



Category: X-Factor (Comics)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-11-17
Updated: 2009-11-17
Packaged: 2017-10-03 05:20:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 646
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14623
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JoAsakura/pseuds/JoAsakura
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In the X-Men's new utopia, Rictor faces off with Emplate</p>
            </blockquote>





	Blink

Utopia/Asteroid M/San Francisco Bay

 

Blink.

And then Emplate is coming right at him. The colour of old blood and ashes and nightmare mouths full of teeth on his hands and Rictor thinks:

I'mnotevenamutantanymorewhereiseveryonewhereisstarohmygodi'mnotevenamutantanymore

And Monet's not moving and all he can see is old blood and ashes and teeth oh god teeth

Blink.

And then, just that quickly, red and white and black. Shatterstar is there, inserting himself between Emplate and Rictor.

For less than a fraction of a second, there's relief because 'Star will save them. Then there's a scream that Rictor only realises later is him because 'Star doesn't scream. Ever. 'Star only barks out one word and Rictor can't tell if it's Cadre or Spanish or English but he knows it all the same.

*RUN*

Blink.

Red hair and pale pale skin stained with arterial blood. Black shirt shiny-dark with even more. And Emplate is laughing as his hands dig through 'Star's skin and flesh and bone like a meat grinder.

And Rictor's knees won't unlock and somewhere in the last few nanoseconds his legs turned to wet paper.

And then 'Star makes a low, feral whine of pain as he tries to free himself, sword dropping from his hand as Emplate chews through the nerves in his shoulder. Emplate's voice sounds like a tomb and Rictor can't tell if he's hearing it in his head or with his ears.

Blink.

"Not much marrow in you, but goodness, it's concentrated. It's like espresso." Emplate sounds like he's having sex. "Hybrid mutant. God, I love ethnic food." All around them are robes like ashes and blood, blocking out everything but 'Star trying to keep him safe for another moment.

'Star yanks his head back with an animal howl and cracks Emplate in the skull, but the action tears away part of his face and there's so much blood as the artery in his throat goes with it.

And then.

And then.

Time stops.

it's the space in-between blinks and Rictor no longer sees red or black or white or ashes and old blood. Rictor only sees green.

He doesn't feel the terrigen-leftover switch flip in his genes, and doesn't hear the deafening roar as the earth around him begins to tear itself up, chunks of masonry surrounding the space occupied by Emplate and Rictor and Shatterstar's body falling hard to the ground.

And if Emplate's saying anything, Rictor doesn't hear that either, partially because gravity has become unstable and optional and it's messing with the freak's ability to phase out and Rictor is currently attempting to drive a few hundred pounds of space rock and concrete into Emplate's gaping maws.

He only starts to really see something other than Emplate in a field of green when red lasers across his vision and Cyclops is yelling at him to stop because X-Men don't kill.

Emplate, screaming and semi-calcified, drops to the ground hard as normal gravity reasserts itself and time snaps back into play hard enough to give Rictor whiplash. He wants to scream himself, mostly at Cyclops for stopping him, when he looks around the ruined buildings, searching for red and black and white amongst the grey dust.

"SHATTERSTAR!" His voice is broken from earlier as he scrambles to the bigger man, sprawled out on the floor. 'Star's starting to heal already, breath coming in shuddering jolts but enough blood loss could kill him with shock anyways.

"I'll get him to Beast." Jimmy's big hand, warm and brown, is on his shoulder and Rictor lets Warpath take 'Star. He trusts Jimmy more than he does any of these others.

Later, when 'Star's stable and Monet's ok, Rictor might celebrate. After all, he can hear the earth again, right?

But right now, he'll settle for decking Cyclops in a flash of red and gold and throwing up on the grey-brown rubble all around.


End file.
